The new Moja Love channel aimed at a black female viewership is starting today, on Valentine's Day at 17:30 with little fanfare on MultiChoice's DStv on channel 157, hoping to make inroads in a highly competitive TV landscape where competitors like Lifetime and Discovery Networks' TLC already exist.
With the obligatory local telenovela - every channel now starts one of these serialised staples - and a flurry of talk show and self help programmes loosely modeled on popular American daytime TV formats, Moja Love, produced and packaged by Siyaya TV, will predominantly focus on women's issues and relationships.
"Moja" meaning good or alright, is packaged for MultiChoice by Siyaya TV that got a pay-TV licence from the broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) but failed to start it's own service, just like eSat that ended up producing eNCA for DStv.
Siyaya TV's Moja Love is made available to DStv Premium, DStv Compact Plus, DStv Compact and DStv Family subscribers and will run 24-hours per day with repeat blocks and have 22 shows including several new local productions.
New programmes will be broadcast between 17:00 and 22:30 daily on Moja Love with the rest of the late night and daytime schedule then consisting of repeats.
"For us at MultiChoice, it's important to offer our customers a range of different entertainment options and to provide a platform for local stories to be heard," says Yolisa Phahle, CEO for general entertainment at MultiChoice.
"Moja is a slang word that means 'everything is good' and while love is a universal emotion, Moja Love shall explore love from the unique perspective of the modern South African woman using honest, reflective, hopeful and humorous storytelling," says Jacqui Setai, Moja Love channel head.
New programmes on Moja Love include a new local weekday talk show, similar to The Real in America as a panel discussion show with women talking about female issues. Show Me Love will have KG Moeketsi, Unathi Msengana, Abigail Visagie and Nontobeko Sibisi as part of the panel.
Show Me Love that has been commissioned for 260 episodes will be broadcast on Moja Love on weekdays at 17:30 with a repeat on weekday mornings at 08:00.
"For us at MultiChoice, it's important to offer our customers a range of different entertainment options and to provide a platform for local stories to be heard," says Yolisa Phahle, CEO for general entertainment at MultiChoice.
"Moja is a slang word that means 'everything is good' and while love is a universal emotion, Moja Love shall explore love from the unique perspective of the modern South African woman using honest, reflective, hopeful and humorous storytelling," says Jacqui Setai, Moja Love channel head.
New programmes on Moja Love include a new local weekday talk show, similar to The Real in America as a panel discussion show with women talking about female issues. Show Me Love will have KG Moeketsi, Unathi Msengana, Abigail Visagie and Nontobeko Sibisi as part of the panel.
Show Me Love that has been commissioned for 260 episodes will be broadcast on Moja Love on weekdays at 17:30 with a repeat on weekday mornings at 08:00.
"These dynamic hosts meet daily to schwashwata on every topic that concerns women at one time or another. With no topic off limits, the show provides a safe place for women to air any issue, in the company of their sistas," says Moja Love.
The local telenovela Hope with 208 episodes stars Nimrod Nkosi, as Pastor Buthelezi, a well-meaning pastor of a small congregation who is about to go through challenges when a new church opens up across the street. Hope will show on weekdays at 19:00.
"It sets in motion a story of love, deceit and betrayal, which unravels in the exciting world of
churches. As brother is pit against father, church members hide dark secrets, and pastors compete
for the soul of the community, take comfort that there is always hope in a dark world," says Moja Love.
Papgeld on Saturdays at 18:30 is an investigative reality show about children and will track fathers, and in some cases mothers, who are not living up to their parental responsibilities,
A spin-off show Let’s Talk Papgeld, Saturdays at 19:00 will try to help viewers with tips and guidelines from a range of experts and service providers in the social services and child maintenance sector.
Judge Khambule on Saturdays at 18:00 is a sitcom set in a courtroom that features characters caught up in various legal issues. Judge Khambule is played by Thenjiwe Mosley.
Other shows on Moja Love include Highly Inappropriate with Phat Joe, a reality beauty makeover show Beat, the sex advice show Thrills with Dr T, presented by sexologist Dr Tlaleng on Wednesdays at 21:00, and Sofa Slahlane, with the presenter and veteran journalist Mzilikazi wa Afrika on Thursdays at 17:00.
Moja Love will also broadcast Sisters in Law, Food Police, Nairobi Diaries, Direct Flight, Amagugu, Curvy Girls and Nomakanji.
